Chapter 220: Hayato Returns to His Old Ways

 Chapter 220: Hayato Returns to His Old Ways

Because Marik's control temporarily vanished, the Dark Game was forcibly interrupted. However, the objective Hayato had in mind when he first expanded the field had already been achieved.

Looking at the state of the few people lying on the ground, Hayato squatted down and patted Keith's face. They were completely unconscious; if left alone, they probably wouldn't wake up until dawn tomorrow.

Kaiba and Yugi also put away their Duel Disks and walked towards Hayato.

"Hmph, lost consciousness because the Impact Simulation System of the prototype Duel Disk went out of control?" Kaiba merely glanced at the black-robed figures and concluded on his own. "They dared to steal KaibaCorp's property, serves them right!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just like you said, President Kaiba." Hayato knew what kind of person Kaiba was and didn't try to force him to change his mind. However, the fact that Kaiba could so easily come up with such a possibility made him wonder if that Duel Disk had really had such problems before.

Thinking this, Hayato stuffed the Decks he had taken from the unconscious people into his pocket, then prepared to remove the Duel Disk he was wearing on his wrist.

"Hey, Ms. Ishizu, how should we handle these guys?" First, he was ambushed, and then, just as he was about to turn the tide during the Duel, the match was interrupted. Kaiba was in a terrible mood and spoke to Ishizu irritably.

Ishizu glanced at the four people lying on the ground. "They are all puppets controlled by Marik. To prevent them from being controlled by Marik again, I suggest it's best to send them to the Police Department for detention."

"Hmph, as it should be," Kaiba said, acting as if he had already thought of the solution himself.

After making a phone call and waiting for the police to arrive, Hayato also took this opportunity to ask Ishizu, "Ms. Ishizu—"

"Please, Hayato-kun, just call me Ishizu," Ishizu said with a smile.

"Alright, Ishizu." Hayato glanced at Kaiba, who was deep in thought holding the Obelisk card, and Yugi, who was staring blankly at the Stone Tablet. "First, I must apologize to you. Regarding your failed predictions, it was actually because of me."

Saying this, Hayato picked up the Millennium Ring on his chest. "This Millennium Ring has the ability to interfere with other Millennium Items. I think the reason the future you foresaw was incorrect might be because my Millennium Ring was interfering with your power."

"The dark Millennium Item, the Millennium Ring," Ishizu looked at the Millennium Ring but started talking about something else with Hayato. "Hayato-kun, do you know? Among the Tomb Keepers I belong to, there is a prophecy passed down from three thousand years ago."

"A certain Pharaoh from three thousand years ago will reappear three thousand years later, but will have lost his name and memory. The nameless Pharaoh, along with the Millennium Puzzle symbolizing kingship, will successively Defeat three users of dark Millennium Items and finally return to the Underworld."

"I know about this. The Millennium Eye, the Millennium Rod, and the Millennium Ring, right? Actually, I also got this thing from someone else—I mean, I won it in a Duel, and the other party agreed." Hayato said without blushing at all. "The so-called nameless Pharaoh refers to the other Yugi, right?"

"Yes, the Pharaoh will Defeat one strong opponent after another in the Duel Ritual, regaining his power and memory. And the Three Egyptian God Cards are one of the keys to regaining the Pharaoh's memory," Ishizu said, looking at Yugi, whose attention had been drawn back by their conversation. "And the mission of the Tomb Keepers I belong to is to assist the Pharaoh in regaining his memory in the present, three thousand years later."

"But before that, Yugi has to retrieve the Three Egyptian God Cards first," Hayato looked at Kaiba, lowered his voice, and leaned his head towards Ishizu's ear, asking somewhat strangely, "But Ishizu, you said you want to help Yugi regain his memory, so why did you give Obelisk to Kaiba?"

"I can hear you, Kobayashi Hayato." Kaiba glared at Hayato. Seeing him raise his hands in surrender, Kaiba snorted coldly and lowered his head again to look at the Obelisk the Tormentor card in his hand. On the Obelisk the Tormentor card, although the Level was marked as 10☆, the Type was Divine-Beast Type, and the Attribute was God, the Effect section contained several lines of strange Ancient Egyptian Text.

Kaiba could swear on his Blue-Eyes that he had never studied Ancient Egyptian Text. After all, his major wasn't archaeology, and he had no interest in things from the past. Yet, for some reason, he always felt like he could read the text on the card and understand its meaning.

Having only had the card for a short while, Kaiba had already managed to read the first few lines through his own efforts. The general meaning was that three Monsters were needed as Tribute to Summon the God, and Trap Cards and Monster Effects below Level 10 were ineffective against the God, while Spell Cards only had effect for one Turn.

As for more, he would have to wait until he returned to KaibaCorp to study it carefully.

"Once I completely understand the power of Obelisk the Tormentor, that will be the time I initiate my Revenge Duel against you, Yugi!"

Ishizu watched Hayato's playful surrender to Kaiba, finding it quite amusing. She smiled and answered Hayato's question, "Although the Three Egyptian God Cards serve as keys, the divinity residing within them is real. Only by subduing the Gods through the Duel Ritual—that is, through the method of Duel Monsters combat—can the Three Egyptian God Cards be used to unlock the Pharaoh's memory."

"Like Exodia?" Yugi also recalled what his Grandfather had said. "Although Exodia has the powerful Effect of instantly achieving Duel Victory if all its cards are drawn into your Hand, you have to draw them one by one from the Deck. Without going through this Ritual, even if you gather all of Exodia at the very beginning of the Duel, it's useless."

"Yes, that's right. Most of the content of this prophecy has now come true, including the appearance of Duel Monsters, the creation of the Three Egyptian God Cards, and the Defeat of the Millennium Eye user." Ishizu paused, placing her hand on the Millennium Necklace. "It's just that my brother, the leader of the Rare Hunters, Marik Ishtar, doesn't want to follow the ancestral teachings."

"So, he stole two of the Three Egyptian Gods and took the Millennium Rod, one of the dark Millennium Items passed down by our ancestors, and formed the Rare Hunters. And this still aligns with the prophecy."

"So that three-year-old doesn't want to follow the prophecy but made a decision against ancestral teachings based on his own ideas? I wonder if he even thought about it for two months," Hayato complained. "Anyway, everything he did went in circles and somehow ended up aligning with the prophecy again, huh?"

"Whatever, as long as one thing is clear now, right, Yugi?"

"Ah, find Marik, then Defeat him and obtain the other two God Cards." The Pharaoh, who had switched back out, had determined eyes. After saying this, his gaze met Kaiba's, who had turned his head at some point.

Kaiba put the Obelisk the Tormentor card into his Briefcase and said coldly, "I won't waste brain cells trying to understand your nonsense. However, if you want to take my Obelisk the Tormentor, prepare an equivalent wager, Yugi!"

With that attitude, someone who didn't know might think Yugi was the one who lost their Duel.

His plan was quite good too. What could Yugi possibly prepare as a wager equivalent to Obelisk the Tormentor other than the other two God Cards?

After setting up the future Duel, Kaiba turned and walked out of the Exhibition Hall. Hayato quickly called out, "Hey, Seto, you haven't taken your Duel Disk."

"I haven't fallen to the point where I need to take things others have used," Kaiba said without turning his head. Hayato felt like this guy was hinting at something. "Consider it me repaying the favor I owed last time. These things are enough to settle the debt."

"Be thrilled for the upcoming grand event, Hayato, Yugi!"

Kaiba's back disappeared from the Exhibition Hall, but the words he left behind made Yugi feel a little confused. He asked Ishizu, "Ms. Ishizu, do you know what Kaiba meant by that?"

"Yes, that was a transaction President Kaiba and I made, and it was one of the reasons he was willing to come here," Ishizu nodded. "The Rare Hunters is an international card theft organization. To lure out their leader, Marik, and also to capture all the Rare Hunters in one swoop, KaibaCorp will be hosting a super large Duel Monsters tournament next month."

"Although it hasn't been officially announced yet, many people have already heard rumors about it and are heading towards Domino City. The code name for that tournament is tentatively 'Battle City'."

"I think Kaiba should pay Maximillion Pegasus some royalties," Hayato said, tapping the Duel Disk on his hand. "Combining this thing, isn't the so-called 'Battle City' quite easy to understand?"

"Just like 'Duelist Kingdom', the entire island will become the battle stage for Duel Monsters. With the Duel Disks allowing Duels anytime, the entire city turns into a battlefield. Then maybe Kaiba will also come up with some Qualification Tokens, like the Star Chips Pegasus created in Duelist Kingdom, for the top eight players to compete for the champion in a place similar to 'Duelist Castle'."

Hayato's description was a bit too detailed, making Yugi even suspect that Hayato already knew some inside information.

"But don't think too much about it for now. No matter what kind of tournament it is, isn't it enough to just keep winning?" Hayato said with a smile, patting Yugi's shoulder, and began wandering around the Exhibition Hall. Along the way, he walked over to the Mummy he had been curious about earlier.

Perhaps because the Exhibition Hall hadn't been built long ago, although the exhibits were mostly in place, the corresponding text introductions for each exhibit hadn't been fully prepared yet. The Mummy in front of Hayato was one of them. However, even without a text introduction, Hayato had Ishizu as a "tour guide" beside him.

"Hayato-kun, you seem quite interested in this Mummy? I noticed you kept looking this way earlier," Ishizu asked, walking up beside Hayato.

Hayato nodded. "I don't know why, but this Mummy feels strangely familiar." Compared to the other Mummies Hayato had seen before, this one in front of him was taller, and the coffin also looked more elaborate. "Could this also be a Pharaoh's Mummy?"

"Yes, this Mummy belongs to one of the most famous Pharaohs among all the Pharaohs of Egypt. His name is Ramesses II, also known as Meryamen. However, he is more often referred to now as Ozymandias."

"That ham sausage? Achoo! Who's talking bad about me?" Hayato suddenly sneezed.